Lucy Arai will present photographs of surviving objects and artwork that illustrate life behind barbed wire fences, as she illuminates how threads were used in camp with stories of how sewing, knitting and crocheting were more than the means to provide warm and durable clothing, bedding and items to make barracks into homes where Japanese Americans were forced to live during WWII.

Beginning in Japan, Arai will contextualize her presentation through her own life and art that are of both Japan and America; she is the eldest of three daughters of a Japanese mother and Euro-American father who married during the American Occupation of post-war Japan.

The camaraderie of shared hardships and making items essential for living during the years of incarceration forged relationships that continued after the war years, while sewing became a means for employment that supported families upon release from the incarceration camps. The emergence of creative pursuits with threads continue to the present in many forms that will be highlighted as the means to explore and celebrate Japanese heritage and to tell stories of legacy, survival, and what it means to be Japanese American.

This program will take place on June 24 at J-Sei: 1285 66th Street, Emeryville, CA 94608. RSVP  jill@j-sei.org with Threads of Camp in the subject line.